Sadly it maybe time to go

[rufusmcc]

Well sadly after 15 years and 9 cars it may be time to leave the Skoda marc. At the start nobody was driving a new Skoda as they had just been relaunched as a car manufacturer and I spent a lot of time beating the Skoda drum.

 

Current car is a Superb 3 SEL, petrol 1.4ltr 150 ACT, with a number of factory fitted extras. First six months were great and loved the car, first Petrol in over 20 years but once I got use to it love it. Similar performance and MPG as my Superb 2 diesel 2ltr, 170 BHP which was a great car.

From July software and / or multiplex issues started to appear which are intermittent so hard to diagnose. My local dealer whom I have bought the car from, have been great at helping throughout the past 6 months and are frustrated as myself.

 

Radio - various issues

Columbus screen freezing

Drivers Seat overheating with burning smell, then not working

Heating not working

Automatic handbrake not releasing

Quality of sound via the speakers being shocking, sound being worse that a Dr Who Dalek

Condensation - levels inside that results in water running down the inside of the windows, I had to stop the car and clear the windows, only the heated windscreen allowed me to see forward.

Metical sound upon cold start, with petrol engine sometimes sounding like a diesel.

I have supplied photos and videos of the issues to help, but Skoda UK techincal does ask my dealer to update the software.

 

I accept that I have a pup / lemon, but only my dealer is trying to help. Skoda UK don't seem to care unless I comment on Facebook to one of their post, then I get a call within 24 hours which basically saying to contact my dealer. So I now assume that Skoda UK only want to protect the PR image rather than keeping loyal customers.

 

My dealer has offered a great deal to replace the car, but if am having to pay another deposit, I will be looking to see what else is out there. Seen some great deal advertise for and XF or an alfa, but don't want to leave Skoda, just want a reliable car that I paid for, but starting to feel like a divorce. The "well you did buy a Skoda" comments are starting to get to me.

 

regards

 

a sad Rufus

 

[Alf01]

I do hope that yours is an exception then the norm. Ours is 6 months and so far so good. The only thing I need to have fixed is those metallic trim strips around the doors/windows. A common issue.

I haven't contacted the dealer yet.

Regarding yours.....doesn't the UK have some kind of "Lemon" law?????

And under the "EU" laws...isn't any product to be: "Fit for purpose"????????

Any of that should get you a new car without any change of money, and that should be the latest model.

[MartiniB]

@Rufusmcc

you aren't unique, welcome to Škoda Haters Club :(

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/410523-rattles-vibrations-mediocre-handling-questionable-paintwork-and-other-general-negativity/?p=4707765

 

[philsmith]

Everytime I see one of these posts with people having problems with their cars I feel I must post a reply saying that I have had my S3 for 14 months and have done 15K and have had no problems whatsoever, no squeaks, no rattles, no bits falling off, everything works perfectley and the quality of the car is exceptional,

 

I realise that there are cars out there with problems but not all S3's are like that.

[ColinD]

That's not a happy car!

 

As you know, you've seen the brand evolve and the pr machine with it. 

 

From the last n years here and since I were a lad in retail, it's fair to say people come to complain more than be positive. It's a simple reacting to a problem. Not all; as philsmith has pointed out, are bad, but there do seem to be a few odd ones. It's good you've got your dealer on your side, that's uncommon.

 

As a family we used to be in citroens pocket from the 50's onwards. It felt like they invented the friday lemon car for gremlins :)

 

The good part of the forums is we can with enough time see a pattern, if there is a common issue, lets say on suspension or other aspects, thank you for sharing. It's also good to know real world 1.4 is akin to 170 diesel, I was thinking of the 1.4tsi next, because it's that or the 1.6 greenline on my wifes lease list... ;)

 

I'd explore Alf01's points with some vigour for that list of faults. Explore in parallel with citizens advice etc, keep your dealer on side so much as you can, even if you're off to pastures new. That isn't a bad thing either!

 

On so many levels, Skoda will do more to get you back than keep you...

[Shhhkoda]

Shame you have a dufffer, but you've had a good run for your money over the last 15 years, still a lemon is a lemon. If you like the engine I would look at the new Audi A4 1.4 FSI Sport, although nothing guaranteed that won't go wrong.

[RickTT]

Sorry to hear your troubles and it does for sure sound like a Friday afternoon car and I don't blame you for lookingn

else where.

Would there be no intrest in you looking for another superb as a replacement ? Maybe a preowned which you can take on an extended test drive for a few days ?

Its a shame the knowledge and expetise are not present within the dealer to resolve the faults you mention, but then at the same time all these faults should not be present.

Im a member who as an whole is happy with the car and nothing too major out of place.

Good luck with your next car...

[Finchbee]

If you had that list of niggles and complaints with a Jaguar, the dealer would be congratulating you on having a "good one".  I was SO happy to turn my back on a 10 month old XE and pick up a Superb.

 

Fair enough if you want to change, but avoid anything from LandRover Jaguar, their software engineers must all be nine years old i reckon!

[801802971]

I am sorry to hear of your problems and can understand why you have a down on Skoda at present.  Having had numerous different cars from different manufacturers over 45 years of driving, my conclusion is that Rogue cars (or should I say faults) are found in most manufacturers cars.  

In my 45 plus years of driving I semi expect a complex piece of machinery to develop faults but I also expect the so called experts to find and fix them.  Unfortunately, this is not the case and I have had more problems with more expensive marcs such as BMW and Jaguar main dealers than from VW and Toshiba.  As a quick example:-

 

Jaguar:-  Noise coming from engine, was told it was the EGR valve and it is normal, even though the car had a petrol engine and did NOT have an EGR valve...!!!
Merc:- Electric Handbrake sticking, was told it is not.  Took it to a rolling road to be tested and found brake was indeed on.  Took results back to main dealer who said it must have just gone after they had looked at it......!!

BMW:-  Handled like a dog, I complained that handling was bad.  Was told it had been tested and is normal due to run flat tyres.  A year later on its first service, it needed 4 new tyres and was told the tracking was out.........!!!!!

 

My view of main dealers is that they are used to dealing with people who know nothing about cars and therefore pull the wool over their customers eyes.  It is only when they come across people like on this forum that know a bit about cars, that they are found out to be incompetent.

 

My view for what it is worth is, cars are getting more and more complex and we can probably expect more and more faults in their lifetime.  If I am picking another car to buy, I would go on peoples feedback at how the local dealers or garages fix them.  Thus, I have just bought my Superb as the local garage appears to be very good.

 

Hope this helps.

[thewinelake]

I've been looking enviously at the Passat GTE - seems that they can be had for around £28k

[Windscreenman]

Well sadly after 15 years and 9 cars it may be time to leave the Skoda marc. At the start nobody was driving a new Skoda as they had just been relaunched as a car manufacturer and I spent a lot of time beating the Skoda drum.

 

Current car is a Superb 3 SEL, petrol 1.4ltr 150 ACT, with a number of factory fitted extras. First six months were great and loved the car, first Petrol in over 20 years but once I got use to it love it. Similar performance and MPG as my Superb 2 diesel 2ltr, 170 BHP which was a great car.

From July software and / or multiplex issues started to appear which are intermittent so hard to diagnose. My local dealer whom I have bought the car from, have been great at helping throughout the past 6 months and are frustrated as myself.

 

Radio - various issues

Columbus screen freezing

Drivers Seat overheating with burning smell, then not working

Heating not working

Automatic handbrake not releasing

Quality of sound via the speakers being shocking, sound being worse that a Dr Who Dalek

Condensation - levels inside that results in water running down the inside of the windows, I had to stop the car and clear the windows, only the heated windscreen allowed me to see forward.

Metical sound upon cold start, with petrol engine sometimes sounding like a diesel.

I have supplied photos and videos of the issues to help, but Skoda UK techincal does ask my dealer to update the software.

 

I accept that I have a pup / lemon, but only my dealer is trying to help. Skoda UK don't seem to care unless I comment on Facebook to one of their post, then I get a call within 24 hours which basically saying to contact my dealer. So I now assume that Skoda UK only want to protect the PR image rather than keeping loyal customers.

 

My dealer has offered a great deal to replace the car, but if am having to pay another deposit, I will be looking to see what else is out there. Seen some great deal advertise for and XF or an alfa, but don't want to leave Skoda, just want a reliable car that I paid for, but starting to feel like a divorce. The "well you did buy a Skoda" comments are starting to get to me.

 

regards

 

a sad Rufus

Sounds to me like you have a water ingress problem to me has the windscreen been replaced at any point ?

There are a lot of electrical circuits that will malfunction due to prolonged water ingress ,this would explain heavy condensation too

I would check all carpets for damp,this amount of electrical issue normally points to water in electrics

Just have a look at the kite mark on the windscreen to see if it is genuine skoda and even if it is it could have been replaced before you collected the car or could have been badly fitted in the factory

Hope you get sorted with it

Cheers